Vallejo ferry riders travel the Carquinez Strait every day, but to most everyone else in the Bay Area the wonders of this fascinating waterway are a well-kept secret. Take a gander at the rich variety of places to go, people to meet and things to see.
Published: August, 2002
Second Annual Series of Events to Showcases the Carquinez Strait
On Saturday, August 3, the second annual Celebrate the Strait kicks off with a trio of boat cruises. At 2:30pm and 3:30pm the 100-foot catamaran Bay Breeze departs the Vallejo Ferry Dock for a Bridge-to-Bridge adventure. The trip from the Napa River Bridge through the Mare Island Strait to the 3 Carquinez Bridges is narrated by local experts, including Bart Ney (Public Information Coordinator from CalTrans), who explain the evolution from the historic 1927 bridge — the first bridge built across the Bay — to the new Zampa Memorial Bridge — a towering suspension bridge now under construction. Following the afternoon boat rides, an evening cruise called Sunset on the Strait (5-7:30pm) will feature scenic vistas on a trip through the Strait from Vallejo to the Mothball Fleet. The cruise includes light repast, a no-host bar and live music with narration of historic and other key points of interest. All of these boat rides sold out last year.
Celebrate the Strait is a full month of cultural, historical, and recreational activities showcasing the community businesses, nonprofit, and governmental organizations which support the Carquinez Strait community. It begins with the opening night of a Broadway-style musical celebrating the life of John Muir in the outdoor amphitheater in Martinez and closes with a history-laced stroll along the Martinez shoreline with East Bay Park District Naturalists. On August 25th, there is a kite festival and family picnic at the Martinez regional shoreline park. In between there are jazz festivals, moonlight hikes, bicycle tours, canoe trips, walking tours, and many other activities. More than 45 activities are included this year; a complete schedule, including information about the boat cruises, can be seen at the website: www.carquinezstrait.org.
The event is supported and chaired by Congressman George Miller, and hosted by the Carquinez Strait Heritage Area Committee, a collaborative effort of nonprofit organizations, businesses, and public agencies working together to promote conservation, restoration, and interpretation of the resources and heritage of the Strait. The CSHAC seeks to encourage economic opportunities, increase awareness and appreciation of the role the Carquinez Strait has played in the development of California and the San Francisco Bay Area, to enhance the recreational resources of the Strait, and to seek recognition of the Strait for its distinctive history and geography and its role as the gateway to the Gold Rush and agriculture of the Central Valley.
The Carquinez Strait links the Central Valley and Delta to the San Francisco Bay. It is California’s only sea-level waterway connecting the ocean to the Central Valley, and is a critical nesting and migratory route for birds such as white pelicans, canvasback ducks, and scaup, for salmon, steelhead, and Delta smelt, and for many insects, including monarch butterflies. Sixty percent of California’s water flows through the Strait on its way to the Pacific Ocean.
The Carquinez Strait is also a hard-working waterway: container ships take advantage of the strait’s depths, high-traffic bridges span the water, and its banks support rail lines and highways. The Strait is important for recreation as well. Hillside and shoreline parks allow hikers, bird-watchers, and others to enjoy its natural beauty. Fishing piers, boat ramps, and marinas share the area with mudflats, tidal marshes, and well-developed trail systems.
For more information, contact the Carquinez Strait Heritage Area Committee at (707) 469-0926 or email dlg@conl.net.
